Illuminating the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of pedagogy: Structure-agency interactions and emergent pedagogies in health and physical education

Abstract

This research explores the influences brought to bear on three health and physical education teachers’ pedagogies. The aim of the research was to provide a detailed account of the structures and agents interacting at various points in the pedagogic process, and how these interactions led to the emergence of body orientated pedagogies. Using critical realism as a guiding theoretical framework, this research utilised initial and follow-up interviews, documentation, and observation to explore the observable and unobservable mechanisms shaping the teachers’ pedagogies. It was revealed that the immediate influences on teacher pedagogy were causally insignificant, whilst influences and mechanisms existing prior to pedagogic practice had a considerable effect on the pedagogies witnessed in practice. Connecting the work of Margaret Archer with that of Basil Bernstein, I translate the findings of this research into a causal map that connects the various influences (and their interactions) across different contexts and time phases. I conclude that the current New Zealand Curriculum creates a flexible space for teachers and local departments when it comes to enacting pedagogy in junior HPE. As such, I recommend that teachers and researchers better understand the constraints and enablement’s of their local contexts, so that they can model their pedagogy accordingly.